Don't Read in the Closet: Volume Four (126 page)

turned to leave, breath catching when his arm was caught and he

found himself tugged back and crowded against the building. Oh shit.

“Look, I mean it. Cut it out.”

He tried to push past them, both of them crowding his space now,

heart pounding. Sure, they didn’t look dangerous, but they were

fucking toasted and Elias had seen plenty of times how quickly an

amiable drunk became a belligerent one if denied what he wanted.

“We just want to buy you a drink, what’s the problem?” the other

guy asked, and Elias focused on staying calm. If he freaked out things

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would only escalate. He just needed a chance to make a break for the

corner, where there was much more pedestrian traffic, unlike the side

street where the shop was located.

Elias smiled, hoping like hell it didn’t look as fake as it was. “No

problem at all, boys. In fact, now that you mention it…I’d love a

drink.” He pointed toward the busier street just half a block away. “I

know a great place just up there where we can go…”

His knees went weak with relief when the two guys relaxed and

grinned and one slung an arm around his shoulder. “Nice! See, I knew

the minute I saw you that you were gonna be down for some fun.

Right, Jake, didn’t I say so?”

Elias didn’t say anything to the contrary, pretending to laugh and

leading them both toward the corner. He glanced behind him, he

wasn’t exactly sure why, and he was glad he did because he had

barely a second to react as, out of freaking nowhere, a blur that looked

suspiciously like Mateo came flying down the sidewalk at them.

Elias got yanked about two yards back from the drunken frat boys,

and it took a few seconds to process that it was, in fact, Mateo

standing between he and them, coveralls loose to his waist, arm

muscles gleaming, looking very much like every superhero Elias had

ever fantasized about.

“
Largate. Tienes exactamente cinco segundos antes que pierdo mi

preocupación por la policía y te arranco la cabeza y te lo meto en el

culo.
”

Elias had no idea what Mateo was saying – it was the first time

he’d heard the man’s voice – but holy shit it sounded sexy. And

heroic. And sexy, had he mentioned sexy? Cause damn.

“Hey, asshole, we were just gonna buy him a…”

They thought better of explaining themselves when Mateo

growled – oh dear god, he really did just growl – and took a step

toward them. In another few seconds, the street was deserted except

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for him and Mateo. Elias leaned against the wall and panted, staring in

stunned shock as Mateo turned to face him.

His heavily lined eyes narrowed, and he took a step forward.

“
¿Estás bien?
” His voice was laced with concern and even though he

didn’t speak Spanish, Elias got the idea.

He nodded. “I’m okay. Are you…what are you doing here?” Had

Mateo just happened to be there at the same time Elias was closing up

shop? Had he seen what was happening and come running, worried

maybe? Oh man, he was making up stories in his head now. Most

likely Mateo had just happened to be there at the right place and the

right time. Lucky for Elias. “Thanks, I’m okay though. You probably

have somewhere to be.”

Mateo’s concerned expression didn’t change and Elias realized the

other man didn’t understand him any better than Elias did Mateo. So

when Mateo stepped forward, big hand curling on Elias’s shoulder, he

tried not to read too much into it. Mateo just didn’t realize he was

fine, that’s all.

“
Ven conmigo. Debes sentarte.
” The other man gestured back

toward the shop and Elias hesitated just a second before nodding.

“Sure. I should pick up all that glass, anyway.” The last thing he

wanted was Kira coming in in the morning and finding the shattered

vase and Elias’s trampled tulips. She’d have a heart attack and think

something awful had happened.

He sighed a little as they came back to the shop and he saw the

carnage of his once beautiful flowers. “Oh dear.” He crouched down

and picked one of the crushed red tulips up, chest tightening when it

just fell apart, petals fluttering to the ground. “They’re just ruined.”

Mateo appeared beside him, crouched down as well, dark eyes

intent on Elias’s face. Elias gave him a shy smile and shrugged.

“They were a gift,” he explained, even though he knew Mateo

couldn’t understand. He tried to make him understand, reaching down

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to pick up a couple more and then pressed them to his heart, meeting

Mateo’s eyes.

The other man smiled then, an expression he’d not yet seen on

Mateo, and Elias thought he could be knocked over with one of those

crushed flowers. It really ought to be illegal for any one man to be so

breathtakingly beautiful.

“
Te gustó. Me preocupaba que pensaría que eran una tontería,

pero tu amiga estaba segura de que no,
” Mateo said, his voice soft.

Elias would give anything to be able to understand what he was

saying. Why hadn’t he paid attention in high school Spanish? He

turned and unlocked the gate, shoving it up enough to unlock the door

to the shop and push it open. “Stay here,” he said, gesturing with his

hands. “I’ll get a broom to clean this up.”

Mateo nodded, and Elias was sharply aware of the fact that Mateo

didn’t take his eyes off him as he hurried to grab the broom and

wastebasket. It was disconcerting, but in a really good way.

Elias came back and Mateo reached for the dustpan, holding it so

Elias could sweep the shards of glass and ruined flowers into it. Elias

paused partway through the chore, looking down at Mateo.

“Why are you being so nice to me? You never noticed me before.”

It seemed safe to ask the question, since Mateo couldn’t understand

him.

He must have gotten something from Elias’s tone or expression,

though, because the other man straightened, heavy brows knit over his

piercing dark eyes, made even more exotic and intense by the thick

rimming of liner. Elias had never dated a man who wore makeup, but

on a man like Mateo…there was nothing feminine about it. If

anything, it somehow just added to the sex appeal Mateo seemed to

wear like a coat.

“
¿Son las flores?
” Mateo asked, standing so close that Elias could

smell the distinctly car shop scent that clung to him. There was

something incredibly sexy about that smell. Engine oil, sweat, a day’s

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worth of sunshine all combined to make Elias’s knees weak. “
Yo te

daré más flores, cielito. Te voy a dar un campo de ellos.
”

God, whatever he was saying, Elias didn’t have to understand it to

know he liked it. In fact, he was hard-pressed not to just swoon right

into the man’s arms. Those strong, muscled, slightly dirt-smudged

arms.

“I wish I could understand you,” Elias whispered, gaze searching

his face. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to be this close to

you.” It was like the language barrier had given Elias a freedom his

shyness had never allowed before. He could say what he thought,

what he felt, because Mateo couldn’t laugh or reject him. It was

freeing. Invigorating.

He shook the heady thoughts off and gave Mateo a sheepish smile,

gesturing to the mess. “We should finish cleaning up,” he said.

A minute later, the wastebasket was full of Elias’s flowers and he

ducked back into the shop to put everything away. When he stepped

out from the back, Mateo was inside, the door shut behind him. Elias

gave him a shy smile.

“You don’t have to stick around. I’m fine, really. I’ll probably just

call a cab and wait inside.” Not that he thought the drunks would

come back, but he was a little shaky, still. Elias tucked his hands in

his pockets. “Thank you, Mateo. For everything.”

“
Sabes mi nombre, Elias. No estaba seguro que sabía.
”

“You know my name,” Elias breathed. “I wondered.”

It was strange, but yet very comfortable, the way they stood there,

just a few feet apart, in the darkened shop, unable to even speak to

each other. Neither with any real idea what the other was saying. For

all he knew, Mateo could be calling him a stupid boy for getting

himself into that situation with the frat boys.

He didn’t think so, though. There was something very gentle in

Mateo’s eyes. Elias should be intimidated, he thought, by his strength,

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his powerful presence, by the way he’d been ready to rip those guys

apart. Instead, he’d never felt more safe.

It was so quiet. The empty, dark shop, the street outside – it was

like the whole world was holding its breath. Elias realized he was

holding his breath, too, when his chest began to burn. He exhaled

heavily, biting his lower lip and in the space of a heartbeat Mateo was

no longer across the room, but there, pulling Elias against him and,

sweet Jesus, kissing him senseless.

Elias thought he might have done something undignified like

squeak, but an instant later forgot to care because Mateo’s tongue was

sweeping into his mouth and oh god, he tasted even better than Elias

had imagined. Spice and heat and exotic – Elias wound his arms

around the other man’s shoulders and held on for dear life.

He wondered absently if he’d gotten knocked in the head by those

frat boys, because this was exactly like at least three of his favorite

dreams. Well, except for the whole ‘can’t understand a word the star

of my hottest fantasies says’ thing. But that was totally not a

dealbreaker. Elias had no problem whatsoever with letting Mateo’s

mouth talk to him in other ways.

God, he was giddy, and by the time the kiss broke briefly, his head

was
really
spinning.

“
Hueles a lilas,
” Mateo murmured, one hand cupping Elias’s

cheek, the other skimming along his back. “
Quiero que mi cama huela

como tu.
”

Elias just beamed at him, pressing closer. “Whatever you said, this

is me saying yes,” he whispered before boldly pressing his mouth to

Mateo’s. He got exactly what he’d hoped for when the other man took

over the kiss and the next thing Elias knew, he was being pulled down

to the floor. Oh god. That was seriously sexy…he would never be able

to look at the sunflower display quite the same again.

“Mateo, wait,” he panted as the kiss broke again and the other

man’s strong hands slid down his chest, leaving shivers in their wake.

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“We can’t…here…” Why couldn’t they? His mind searched for an

answer but reason was shattered the second Mateo’s hands slid under

his shirt and skin touched skin. Elias suddenly wanted the same

pleasure and reached down to yank Mateo’s tank top up and off over

his head, their lips clinging to each other, breath panting.

God, he had the most perfect body. Elias groaned and shoved

Mateo over onto his back, straddling him now. He sat up, staring

down at him. He’d never touched anyone who looked like Mateo.

There wasn’t an ounce of soft on him – nowhere at all, he thought as

he rocked his hips and ground cock against cock.

“You’re beautiful,” he gasped, hands splayed on the other man’s

broad chest. He wasn’t one of those beach muscleheads who looked

like their muscles were going to explode out of their overly tanned

skin. No, Mateo was real. Hard work, long days sweating and

straining and…what was he saying? Elias couldn’t concentrate on

coherent thoughts when he, miraculously, was here with the man he’d

been fantasizing about, allowed to touch him. Maybe a lot more, too.

“
No me hagas esperar, cielito. Tu me atormentas,
” Mateo

murmured, hands sliding up Elias’s sides, pushing his t-shirt along